Deauville Hotel Management, LLC d/b/a Deauville Beach Resort, Appellant,
v.
Kemesia Boota Ward and Patrick James Ward, Appellees.
Not
final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
An
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County Lower
Tribunal No. 10-63383, Norma S. Lindsey, Judge.
Billbrough & Marks, P.A. and Geoffrey B. Marks, for
appellant.
Faudlin Pierre, for appellees.
Before
LOGUE, SCALES, and LUCK, JJ.
LUCK,
J.
"Chapel
of Love, " the tune made famous by the Dixie Cups,
celebrates how a couple's wedding day should feel like
"Spring is here, the sky is blue/Birds all sing as if
they knew . . . Bells will ring, the sun will shine, I'll
be his and he'll be mine." The Dixie Cups, Chapel of
Love (Red Bird Records 1964). The birds, however, did not
sing and the bells did not ring on Kemesia Boota Ward's
wedding day. The hotel ballroom where she planned to have her
wedding reception was closed by the city of Miami Beach, and
the hotel moved the reception to its lobby. Ward's
wedding day was "ruined, " a "public
spectacle, " "cramped, " and "very
uncomfortable, " and caused her to be "embarrassed,
" "cry[] uncontrollably, " and have
"nightmares." As a result, Ward and her husband,
Patrick James Ward, sued the hotel that hosted and catered
the wedding, Deauville Hotel Management, LLC, for breach of
contract and intentional infliction of emotional
distress.[1] The jury, after a five day trial, found
for the couple on both claims and awarded Ward $23, 000 and
her husband $2, 500 on their breach of contract claims, and
the couple $5, 000 for intentional infliction of emotional
distress. The hotel contends on appeal that it did not breach
the contract because it did not promise a specific location
for the wedding within the hotel, the jury awarded more
breach of contract damages than the facts supported, and its
conduct was not outrageous enough for an intentional
infliction of emotional distress claim. After reviewing the
briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm in
part and reverse in part.
Factual
Background and Procedural History
On
February 17, 2010, Ward signed the contract with Deauville to
hold her wedding reception in the hotel's Richelieu
ballroom on July 9, 2010. The contract did not specify in
which room or area of the hotel the wedding would be held
and, instead, referred to the "function space." The
contract further stated that:
Function space is assigned, and reassigned if needed, to
accommodate both the GROUP and all other parties who are
using the HOTEL facilities during the GROUP'S event
dates. THE GROUP agrees to promptly notify the HOTEL of any
changes in function space requirements and/or attendance.
The
contract also contained the following provision regarding the
hotel's cancellation policy:
HOTEL'S CANCELLATION: If Hotel cancels this Agreement or
is unable to provide the requested space, the Hotel will work
with Group to arrange alternative space at the prices set
forth herein. Hotel will arrange for comparable space in the
same vicinity of the Hotel and shall provide, without charge,
necessary transportation between the alternative site and the
Hotel. Hotel's liability is limited to these remedies,
and Hotel shall not be liable for any consequential, punitive
or special damages.
Nine
days before the Wards' wedding, on June 30, 2010, the
city of Miami Beach red-tagged (i.e., shut down) the
hotel's three ballrooms, including the Richelieu, as
unsafe and in violation of certain building
codes.[2] Deauville did not inform the Wards of the
shut down and, instead, staff was instructed to continue the
preparations for the reception as planned. Meanwhile,
Deauville attempted to have the red-tag removed. The next day
after the city closed the ballrooms, the hotel sent a
facsimile to the city's building department requesting a
ninety-day extension of time for compliance. The extension
was denied. On July 8, the day before the wedding, the hotel
filed an emergency motion for temporary injunction against
the city to allow access to the ballrooms. The hotel was
again unsuccessful in its attempts to have the ballrooms
reopened. Finally, an emergency inspection was conducted on
the day of the wedding, but because no repairs had been made,
the ballroom remained closed.
The
Wards learned of the shutdown hours before their wedding on
July 9. While the Wards were married in a ceremony off-site,
the Deauville moved the reception to the "Napoleon
Pre-function area, " which is what the hotel called its
lobby. The lobby, unlike the Richelieu ballroom, was too
small for the 190 guests; the tables were "crammed"
in the space; there was no privacy for the event; the disc
jockey playing music was told numerous times to lower the
volume; and hotel guests were walking through the wedding
reception (some in their bathing suits) and participating in
the reception (clapping during the introduction of the
wedding party).
For
ruining their wedding, the Wards sued the hotel for breach of
contract (as to Ward), breach of a third-party beneficiary
contract (as to her husband), and intentional infliction of
emotional distress. The jury found in favor of Ward on her
breach of contract claim, and awarded her $23, 000 in
compensatory damages. The jury also found that Ward's
husband was a third-party beneficiary to the contract and
suffered damages in the amount of $2, 500. With respect to
the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, the
jury found that the hotel engaged in extreme and outrageous
conduct and awarded damages ...